Enhancing TiO2 photocatalytic efficiency through the synergistic effect of titania/ceria binary oxide and silver doping

In this study, a modified sol–gel method was used to synthesize pure TiO2 and TiO2/CeO2-based materials, followed by the loading of 3 wt.% silver ions onto the catalyst surfaces using a wet-impregnation method. All synthesized and modified catalysts were characterized using Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques to analyze their textural, morphological, and structural properties. The photocatalytic activity of these materials was evaluated for the degradation/decolorization of crystal violet (CV) dye under ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. Moreover, the effects of various process parameters, including initial dye concentration, catalyst amount, and UV wavelength, on photocatalytic efficiency were analyzed. The results indicated that the addition of CeO2 and Ag into the TiO2 catalyst significantly enhanced the photocatalytic activity compared with pure TiO2 under identical experimental conditions. Further analysis of the photocatalytic process demonstrated that the TiO2/CeO2 binary oxide catalyst, as well as Ag-doped samples (TiO2/Ag and TiO2/CeO2/Ag), exhibited improved photocatalytic performance relative to pure TiO2.